Halloween a Little Early

Halloween is just around the corner, and we have some really cute holiday fabrics in the shop, so I just had to make up some Trick or Treat bags. I put two handles on the sides so a little tyke can hold it open wide when she says, "Trick or Treat!"

I put an oval bottom in it so it'll stand up on it's own, that helps it to be decorative even while sitting around full of candy ~ I remember having bowls of loot around for quite some time after the big night ~ and each child had to keep their stash separate :)

This one is for my granddaughter, and I'll have some more in different fabrics showing up in my Etsy store as I get them made up.

Yesterday I finished and mailed out my little project for Quick Quilts, and picked up a quilt that Mary quilted up for me on her longarm. I'll try to get the binding on that soon, so I can show it off a little :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Just a Tease

I'm just dropping in with a quick tease today...

These goodies came in the mail yesterday, and before work at the shop today and tomorrow I'll be playing with them. The fabrics are new ones from the "Just Dreamy" collection designed by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake Designs. They have some really yummy fabrics that are so much fun!

The exciting news is, this is only a sneak peek because I'm making a project for Quick Quilts magazine (Good thing this is for Quick Quilts as I just got the fabrics and have to turn it and have the finished product to them by Monday for photography!). So sorry, I can't show you the finished product yet ~ but, as you can tell from the fabrics, it's really cute :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Mom Keeping Busy

Yesterday I needed an easy kind of mindless project. It was Bobby's first day of college classes and I think I was as nervous for him as he was. So while I patiently awaited his return to get all of the details of his day (he is living at home and commuting to the local Community College), I made this little guy. I've really been into crib quilts lately. Between Mountain Baby Blankets donations and my Etsy store that I'm trying to stock, I've really been kicking these little guys out.

The fabrics in the center are Arcadia from Moda Fabrics. The colors are just great, and I love the birds. The circle geometric fabric that I used for the border is part of the Morning Call collection designed by Hoodie for Blanks Textiles.

I used a cream fabric from French Farmhouse from Andover Fabrics for the backing, and quilted with an all over meander.

I love the retro 70's look of this quilt ~ and it was fast, easy, and great machine quilting practice for me. I'm thinking of kicking out a couple more little quilts like this, as I know that in a few years, with our kids and our friends' kids all getting to parenting ages, I'll need a few more of these puppies in the wings!

By the way, Bobby's day yesterday went really well, and now it's on to day two, and the other half of his classes...what shall I whip up today :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Binding Weekend

Today was about binding. I used the day to catch up and put bindings on some projects that I've had sitting just waiting to get finished.

This is a new crib quilt that I machine quilted from this cute Jungle Animal panel. I have it for sale here in my Etsy Store :)

You can click on the pictures to see the quilting a little better.

I had fun practicing doing different meanders and swirls.

I'm trying to do more quilting to practice and build up my skills in that area more. I think I'm getting a little better ~ and I'm definitely getting faster.

The other thing I finally got bound today is Heather's Wizard of Oz quilt.

My friend Mary Nielsen of Keep Me In Quilts quilted this one up for me and did a beautiful job with all of the picture details. (Mary's located in Pasadena MD and her email is mesnielsen@aol.com if you are in need of a good machine quilter at a very reasonable rate!)

I also started to finish the backing edge on my prairie point quilt, I'm working on that in the evenings as my hand work project. I'll show you that one soon. Anyway, it's nice to get a few more projects off of the UFO pile!

Enjoy your day!
~ Dawn

A Little Schnibble Here, and A Little Schnibble There

Have you heard of Schnibbles? They are cute little patterns designed by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. Schnibble is actually a real word, of German origin, meaning a scrap of fabric. These patterns use small bits of fabric, so they lend themselves well to charm packs and also our scrap baskets.

And now for the fun news ~ Sherri from A Quilting Life blog and Sinta from The Pink Pincushion blog will be starting A Year of Schnibbles beginning September 1st (which I just realized is coming up really quickly). Each month they will feature a different Schnibbles pattern that you can purchase from your local shop and make up in your choice of fabrics that month (it's ok, these are generally small projects and very doable). Then there will be a sharing of quilt pictures, what they're calling a Parade of Quilts, and prizes every month! Sherri has also told me that Carrie will offer a free exclusive pattern for all who participate, and she's donating some prizes. They have even lined up some quilt shops to donate prizes as well. It sounds like these ladies are really doing some planning for this, so head on over to Sherri and Sinta's blogs and check out all the details! I will be posting the button on my blog sidebar to make it easy to find them in the future too. I figured I might as well jump in and participate as I usually get sparked a little in the Fall/Back to School time of year to start something new, and I have a lot of little schnibbles laying around my sewing room that are just itching to be in a quilt ~ plus the word schnibble is really fun to say :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Updated Calendar Quilt

Well, I decided to take an afternoon and bring my Calendar Quilt up to date yesterday (Yes Mary, seeing yours hanging on the wall inspired me!). I still have to go back and add my little month appliques that I started in the beginning, and I have a couple of special days that need to be embroidered on, but the blocks are done. Since I was getting tired of straight strip sets, I changed it up for the second four months of the year and went with diagonal cut squares. For the last four months I'll go with straight strip sets again.

Here is the May block up close. I'm still trying to use a strip of something I was working on at the time. This is the month I worked on Louisa and there are fabrics from June's Baltimore Album block and my Tisket a Tasket BOM. Luckily I was saving strips in a basket all along to remember what I was working on then. The bottom right has Maroon and Gold for Bobby's school colors since he graduated then.

In June we did Mountain Baby Blankets and this block has fabrics from some baby quilts I designed, the Thimbleberries extra project for the month, and some fabrics representative of our Sew In.

July has Popcorn fabric for the Fourth because Heather and I went to the movies instead of fireworks that day. There are batiks from the Jacket I was making (and still have on the pile to finish), and fabrics from a magazine quilt that I was working on.

This is August so far. This one has Civil War reproductions for the Underground Railroad block I did for Civil War Sunday, and some fabrics from the other magazine quilt I just finished.

It feels good to have this brought up to date. I still don't know how I will finish it. I'm thinking of some sashing between the long strip sets, but I haven't decided on a color. I think that will have to sing out to me at the end.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Sometimes Finished is What I'm Going For

I'm finally getting back to picking up some hand work and doing some of my Baltimore Applique. I decided that this poor block needed to be finished.

Remember back earlier this Spring when this little mishap occurred? If you missed it, you can read about it in this post. I figured I'd do an inking of our house and applique it in the center to repair the mistake, but after multiple attempts at sketching the house, it still looked like some kind of wonky cartoon house. It would have worked well for a folk art applique, but not the look I was going for with the inking.

So I used a photo of our house and went on over to picnik.com. If you've never been there, check this site out. It's a fun and free photo editing software (you can upgrade to a paid premium service, but can do many things on it for free). I turned the picture into a black and white sketch, and printed it out on EQ Printables paper backed fabric.

Then I reverse appliqued it into the center of the block. It's not perfect, I'm new at all this tech photo stuff, and I realize I should have softened the edges, but for the most part I'm happy with the result. I know, I know, using modern technology to finish a 19th century reproduction won't set well with everyone, but...I'm looking at a finished block :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

An Aunt's Gift

Saturday was all about getting ready for the big birthday party that we were having on Sunday. While Bob and I did yard work, Aunt Heather set out to make her first Wilton Character Cake for the birthday girl.

Each time I came in for a cold drink, the cake was progressing. First there were facial features.

Then skin and shoes.

Eventually all the colors were on...

...And as Elsie said, "Dora, Dora, Dora!"

Finally on Sunday, songs sung, candles blown, and wishes made...the best part :)

Most of the partiers left last night, and great-grandma goes home today, so it's back to work for me. I think I need a rest though.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

County Fair on a Summer Day

Yesterday was our big day at the Howard County Fair. We went in the morning, and the weather was just right, with a small breeze that kept us comfortable. We saw lots of animals, big and small, but the ducklings were a favorite. We stood and watched them for quite a while!

And of course we had to say hello to the sheep. It's amazing the conversations that she had with the animals :)

And of course, Grandma got to look at the quilts! There were some beautiful applique quilts, and even some antique quilts were entered.

I recognized this one from Bunny Hill Designs :)

And I thought this vintage looking child's quilt was just adorable :)

There were also some beautiful cross stitch there, I think this one was my favorite one though ~ I love the spider web in the bottom corner.

I took many more quilt pictures, but they all didn't come out so well since they were behind the plastic, and my photography skills are limited, but you get the idea.

After the fair, we spent some time in the pool enjoying family ~ I think it was a perfect summer day :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Quick Projects, Fairies & Birthday Fun!

I've been busy making little pillows that have been real popular in my Etsy Store. I'm using left over fabric from Lights, Camera, Action fabric from Andover Fabrics. Some I've been piecing, and some, like this one is just fussy cut from the fabric. This is my fifth one, the last two sold before even getting finished! I was pleased to hear that two of them will be in a classroom reading center that is being decorated with a Hollywood theme. I like that :)

Have you seen the new Quilting show called Quilt Out Loud with Mark Lipinski & Jodie Davis? I've been watching shows on my computer while sewing lately. I have been really enjoying this one ~ it's very different with segments that include quilting of course, but also other things that quilters take part in, like gardening. The first episode included, among other things, how to make a Whimsical Fairie Garden, and while I don't have a little Fairie house and such, Heather had placed this little gal in my herb garden next to the lavendar this Spring, and Mark's segment made me think of her and what else I can keep an eye out for to include in the garden with her. The show can be found on QNN (you have to join, but it's well worth it in my opinion, I've been checking out many of the other shows). They have Episode 1 of Quilt Out Loud complete, and segments #1 & 2 of Episode 2 are also up now.

Finally, this little "Cheese Face" is two years old today (wow ~ it seems like only a couple of months ago that I was sitting in the labor room filling in for her deployed daddy, helping her mommy bring her into this world!) We're off to the County Fair to celebrate with the piggys and bunnies, and I'm sure that Grandma will get to see some beautiful prize winning quilts too!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

More Thimbleberries Extras

Tomorrow is the monthly Thimbleberries Club meeting at And Sew it Goes, and here is the extra project that I made for this month. The sunshine (or flower, or whatever it is) above the birdhouse is the same pattern that was for block 6 in the big quilt.

I played with Golden Threads paper, and quilted a little acorn & oak leaf design in the borders, but you can't really see it on this fabric unless you look really closely.

I actually got it all quilted and bound this month ~ and before the meeting! The fact that it was a cute birdhouse wallhanging, and a quick little project I'm sure had nothing to do with it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Sweetheart of a Project

Here's little peek at what has been keeping me busy this week. I'm just about finished with this one and all ready to send it out for photography ~ always a good feeling!

If all goes well, this little quilt will appear in Quilt Almanac which hits the news stands around the first of the year. (As always, I'll keep you posted!)

I've been having fun making some cute little side projects to go along with the quilt, that will be free online bonus patterns. As I get these last two quilts finished and mailed out, I'll be taking a few days off this week to spend with my daughter who'll be here in MD visiting with my granddaughter. Elsie is turning two this week and the party is at Grandma's house! Lots to do...

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

New Acquisition

This is another yard sale find that has made it's way to my house to live. My best friend Carolyn (not the quilt shop owner that I work for who is also named Carolyn ~ which makes for some confusing conversations in my house), and I had gone out on one of our scavenger trips a while back and came across this little guy. Carolyn bought it for $20 thinking it might work well with an old treadle table that she has, but wasn't quite sure. I told her that if she decided not to keep it, I'd buy it from her. She decided to pass it on to me, and now it has this new place of honor in my sewing area. I know nothing of the value of these things, and I haven't even tried it to see if it works yet ~ I'm not even quite sure what I will do with it, but it makes me smile :)

The table it's sitting on is my other old Singer machine that is just like the sewing machine that I sewed on way back in Middle School Home Ec. Class. I got that one from a Freecycler who was passing it on. (If you have never checked out Freecycle, it's well worth it and there are local groups all over the country).

So now with my Great Grandmother's treadle machine, this little electric Singer, and my adolescent Singer I'm getting quite a collection.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn